Vatican, listen to Margaret Farley!

Just when you thought the GOP war on women was unrivalled, the Vatican wants a piece of the action. The Catholic Church has severely criticized Margaret Farley's book, Just Love: A framework for Christian sexual ethics because it gently contends that sex should be fun and we should accept and honor gay marriage.

The Rome-centric church has put the world on notice that Just Love contradicts important Catholic doctrines like homophobia--doctrines that many American Catholics would rather not observe. Apparently, the pope doesn't care that Farley is a nun whose august credentials include being one of the first Catholics to teach at Yale Divinity School. The Vatican has been out of touch with women for a long time, and that includes devout Catholic women. Tell Rome to start listening to its women leaders and withdraw its censure of Margaret Farley.

The greatness of the Catholic Church has been its ability to adapt to new times, updating practices like Latin-only services and indulgences. However, the church has fallen behind in recognizing that women and gay people are people too. Slamming a carefully-thought-out book on sex and love, written by a devout and brilliant nun, does not help the church get into tune with the 21st century. We the undersigned respectfully ask that you listen to Margaret Farley, rather than condemning her--and listen to the real Catholic women that you have for so long ignored!